


Blindman's Bluff

by lucdarling



Series: More Than A Game [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Flashback, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-05
Updated: 2012-03-05
Packaged: 2017-11-01 13:19:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/357250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucdarling/pseuds/lucdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I was the one with the world at my feet, got us a battle, leave it up to me." [<i>Blindness</i> by Metric]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blindman's Bluff

**Author's Note:**

> Also fulfills the square "trust issues" for my Natasha card

_She’s fighting, blocking a punch, grappling, then the force of a boot to her hip sends her staggering. She regains her footing and tackles the unknown, hands reaching to lock around the slim throat-_

Natasha opens her eyes and her hands are resting around the throat of her lover, not an assailant whose face she can’t see. Pepper blinks up at her sleepily and Natasha moves her hands away as if the woman’s skin has burned her.

“Tash? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sleeping on the couch. Stay in bed.” Natasha slides out from under Pepper’s arm and the warmth of the covers. She pulls her pillow from the head of the bed as the other woman sits up and pushes the hair from her face.

“What? We have a perfectly good bed, Natasha.” Pepper pats the mattress, staring at the assassin. Natasha knows she has no idea how close she came to death moments ago; her girl is a heavy sleeper, unlike herself and James.

“No. I mean yes, it’s a good bed.” Natasha isn’t usually tongue-tied and she blames it on her nerves. The reality of what almost happened is setting into her bones and Natasha can’t trust herself to stay any longer. “You stay in it. I just need some space.” Pepper looks at her, eyes rapidly clearing from the fog of sleep.

“Okay,” Pepper acquiesces. She lies down without another word of protest but Natasha can feel her gaze on her back as she leaves the bedroom.

Natasha sits on the couch and draws the blanket around her like she’s a child again. She doesn’t sleep, she doesn’t dare close her eyes. Natasha brings her knees up to her chest and leans against the pillow, green eyes trained on the blank television. She doesn’t move, listening to Pepper’s quiet breathing from the next room and time passes.

That’s how James finds her when he slips in the door. The clock ticks over to 3:08AM and Natasha listens to the sounds of him unlacing the boots, the whisper of leather over his metal arm. There are quiet footsteps mixing with the deep, even breathing of Pepper and the man sits on the couch next to her. Natasha turns her head to look at him.

“Rough night?” He questions softly, brown eyes taking in the tight grip she has on the fleece around her.

“She has no idea who she’s in bed with.” Natasha says, subdued in a way she doesn’t allow herself to be in the daylight, in front of anyone else. But James knows her, trained her in the times he was awake; he knows her intimately and isn’t frightened. He’s capable of just as much as she is.

“I know perfectly well who I’m sleeping with,” Pepper cuts in acerbically. Natasha whips her head around as the other redhead leaves the bedroom and finds room on the couch. She curls against the other side of James, who puts an arm around her. They both look at Natasha, waiting patiently for an explanation.

“ _I woke up and thought she was one of them_ ,” Natasha says in Russian, knowing that their lover doesn’t speak the language. Pepper frowns and James strokes her hair gently. His eyes are trained intensely on Natasha’s face. “ _I nearly killed her, my hands were around her throat_ -” The assassin cuts herself off, clenching her hands tighter in the blanket around her until her nails dig into her palms on the other side of the cloth.

James reaches out and pulls Natasha against his side. He’s warm and a little sweaty; Natasha holds herself stiffly because she doesn’t deserve kindness, not after her confession.

“Shhh,” he soothes, pressing his lips against her forehead. The Russian relaxes minutely.

“Let’s all go to bed and try this again?” Pepper murmurs, already half-asleep with her face against the man’s shoulder. She stands and holds out a hand to Natasha, who looks at the floor instead of taking it. James doesn’t allow her to wallow in pity and shame for very long - he wraps his metal arm around her shoulders and propels her off the couch with him as he rises to his feet.

Pepper walks ahead of them into the bedroom and James stops Natasha before she reaches the doorway. He looks down at her, hands on her shoulders. “Trust me, Natalia.” She nods once and James pushes her into the darkened room, hitting the switch for the hall light before he enters.

Natasha can see Pepper in the middle of the large bed and the redhead goes to her usual spot on the right side. She stays on the far edge though, instead of curling into Pepper’s softness like she usually does. The other woman leans against James’s chest once he settles and reaches for Natasha. She flinches back minutely. It’s too soon, what if she falls asleep and wakes up with her hands around - or worse, with Pepper’s eyes glassy and accusing - Natasha scrambles away from Pepper’s hand and nearly puts herself on the floor.

“Easy there,” James soothes from the other side of Pepper. He props himself up on an elbow, slipping the other one over the woman’s waist, and looks at Natasha. Pepper doesn’t say a word, just looks at Natasha with wide eyes. “She just wants to hold you, nothing’s gonna happen.”

“ _Don’t say things that you can’t promise_!” Natasha snaps in Russian. Pepper holds her breath as James’s hand tightens where it rests over her hipbone.

“Nothing will happen.” The man drops his head from resting on his hand to the pillow and slides the arm not over Pepper under the pillows, reaching towards Natasha. “I promise.” He states with confidence. Both redheads sigh, one with a long-held breath finally exhaled and the other with utter belief in the surety behind the words.

Natasha inches across the bed and tangles her legs with Pepper’s. It’s a compromise, because she keeps her torso and hands away from the other two, hand tucked underneath her own chin, clenched in the fabric of the pillowcase. She falls asleep just a bit apart from her two lovers, distant and safe.

The woman wakes up with Pepper’s head under her chin and smooth legs intertwined with hers. James stands at the end of the bed, towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is damp from a recent shower; Natasha hadn't heard him stir or leave the bed.

“I told you it would be all right, Tasha. Have a little faith in me.” He grins playfully and she glares at him, settling back into a light doze.


End file.
